[Pc_Support] RE: "Why IT Certs Don't Add Up"

[Bryan J. Smith]

If you haven't read it, hit Larry Dignan's column this week:
  http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1957242,00.asp  

Some notables:  

  "I was told by a HR manager that I needed more certs even with
   9 years' solid IT work history, so now with an A+, MCSA, MCSE,
   CCNA, CISSP and CISM, I know the next time I go in for a job
   they will look at a list of certs and find the one I DONT have
   to use it to bargain for a reduced wage. Utter bulls**t."

God if this isn't the truth.  As some of you know, I had a dozen years
of engineering and IT experience, with a BS in engineering, and kept
running into roadblocks.  So I took 20 certification exams with no
training rather quickly (over 3 months) to prove some basic credentials.
Then I still ended up having to take another 20 certification exams
(over another 3 months) to prove more.  Finally, in late 2003, I said
forget it, I stopped taking them -- especially after consecutively
passing 6 Cisco exams, they started saying some didn't count anymore.

  "What we need in IT is TALENT and SKILLS, not certifications that
   lock us with a single vendor." 
   Lesson: Don't get pigeonholed by certs."

Even today, after those 40 exams translate into 24 certs, it's still not
enough!  But one thing I did realize is that once I started, I had to go
through a lot of vendors to prove I was "vendor-agnostic."  I _knew_,
before I started, it would be over $5,000 in just exam-related fees (and
hundreds upon hundreds of hours in my time) -- because I wasn't stopping
until I had professional/expert-level certs from Cisco, LPI, Microsoft,
Novell, Red Hat and Sun -- as well the lower ones from CompTIA.

  "Take this short quiz: Which employee would you hire?
   A) Jack Programmer, MCSA, MCSE, CCNA, CISSP, CISM 
   B) Jill Linux, MBA"

The world is filled with lots of non-technical managers and technical
professionals with no management skills.  Companies want both.  And they
not only want both, but they want those same people to manage the other
two -- including dealing with the animocity, rhetoric and other
non-sense that hurts the business.  Many more MBAs with technical
experience can do that than people with certs.

  "The majority of the ones I've dealt with have trouble taking
   direction, listening carefully, keeping accurate documentation and
   being able to communicate in non-techno speak for the technically
   illiterate employers and managers they interact with daily."

I use many of my former managers at clients as a reference.  Well, in
one case, a 27 year-old lead under him accidentally took a phone call
when that manager was out and didnt' realize they were calling me for a
reference.  That lead gave me high marks, but he made one negative
comment that I "over-document" and then expanded on the fact that I was
the only one that documented, so it was really unnecessary.  That was
actually an _awesome_, _unintentional_ high mark!

Case-in-point:  Many leads and immediate managers are failing the grade
these days.  They don't take documentation and processes seriously, and
they are constantly "reacting" and using it as a justification for IT,
instead of being "proactive."

  "Don't whine that you are a Windows guy and you don't do Linux,
   learn it.  Lesson: Don't get stale. Keep learning."

I am (among others are) a hot commodity not because I'm smart or capable
or certified or what-ever.  We're a hot commodity because we go outside
our scope.  I was on a job where I had nothing to do with Java
development.  But when a task had fallen behind 9 months that was
affecting my role, I got out some Java and found that writing socket
interfaces and other translators wasn't that hard.  All while planning
and scheduling so I didn't miss my primary objectives.

  "I could not care less about certs. Show me a project you did and
   how you'll help my company do projects faster and better instead." 
   Lesson: Deliver the goods, not the certs. IT words to live by.

This is _crucial_.  Employers want to see projects started and finished.
Ironically enough, in being a consultant, I got to do far more of this
than as an employee -- because I was accountable in my contract.
Unfortunately, employers are more hesitant to go with me because of all
the contract/consulting work I've done over the last 4-5 years.

Sometimes I think everything is a catch-22.

I have the degree, certs and experience -- including running projects --
so there should be no excuse.  At the same time, if someone is going to
find something to dismiss from consideration (especially if your
credentials seem "too good"), it doesn't matter what you have or what
your past employers/clients say about you.


-- 
Bryan J. Smith            Professional, technical annoyance
mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org      http://thebs413.blogspot.com
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